Change of Heart

Family!!

This week has been so good. I am working harder than I ever have on my mission and I can feel a difference inside of me. We are really taking "serve Him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength" literally. I LOVE WORKING. It is so rewarding to go home at the end of the night and know that you did everything you can for the Lord that day. 

The work is definitely hard here in Coron, sometimes I feel like we work so hard everyday and nothing happens.. but no effort is wasted. It is so true, we worked so hard this week. SO HARD. I can't even express how hard I feel like we worked to really get Coron started again. We planned, prayed, and worked. We worked and worked and worked. Most of the days we had 5-7 lessons and would OYM 30 to 40 people. I felt like, "Man we are really accomplishing what we are supposed to be" and it was an awesome feeling. Then it came around to being Saturday night and all of a sudden everyone (like all of our less actives and investigators) started to bail on going to church. They had so so so many excuses. It was so hard. To feel like you have been giving the Lord everything you have for the past three, four, five weeks and especially this last week and there won't be any action from the work that you have done.. I honesty just felt so sad and so bad like maybe we didn't do everything we could have. 

Then on Sunday morning we were sitting in the meeting house and no one. No less actives, no investigators, nothing. We had no one coming to church that day. Coron A had like 6 or 7 investigators at church and we had nothing. It was so heart breaking. As I was sitting thinking about everything I just realized. I did everything I could. I do not regret anything. I gave everything I had this week. After I had those thoughts I turn around and a family that we had just found and taught that week was walking in the door. My heart was so full of joy. I can't even express how happy I was to see this beautiful family walking in to observe our church and feel the Spirit. Oh the tender mercies of the Lord are so real. I can't even begin to express how much joy I felt just for knowing the Lord knows the desires of our hearts and we will be rewarded for our works. 

I love this gospel and this work more than anything. I love being a missionary. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love it. It is hard. It is the hardest thing I have ever done in my whole life, but it is so awesome. I have already seen the changes in myself and i'm so excited to continually let the Lord change me into who he wants me to become. Change is not easy, but it is worth it. 

This week we had the opportunity of having Zone meeting with the four Coron sisters. It honestly was one of the most spiritual meetings ive had on my mission this far. It was about a change of heart. I always ask myself why I served a mission or why did I decide to come. I decided to go on a mission because I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ more than words can express, but I came on a mission because I was called to come. I have a very distinct moment of when I decided to come on a mission and I know that I am supposed to be here. Oh how blessed I feel that I acted on the revelation I received to come on a mission. I know my life would've been so much different if I would have ignored it and stayed home. I know Heavenly Father loves me because he sent me here. He is changing me into who he wants me to become and I love Him even more for it. It is so hard, but when I come home next year I know that my mission will have been the turning point for my mission. I love love love being here.

 In a talk we received to prepare for zone conference I read by President Ezra Taft Benson in 1989 it says, "no one is more anxious to see us change our lives than the Father and the Savior... The Lord is pleased with ever effort, even the tiny, daily ones in which we strive to be more like Him." I love love that. It's not like we are going to change everything about us in one day, one year, or even 18 months here on a mission. It is by the little steps. Day by day choices that make us change. That make us better. I want to be the best person I can be. I am striving to change my heart and to really serve the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. It is hard, but changing isn't easy. 

I want to let all of you know how much I love you. I love you so so so much. It's crazy how much is changing back over there in Utah, but i'm so excited to see what is to come of everything by the time I am home in a years time. I love my mission. I love serving here in the Philippines. It is definetly a one of a kinda place, and I wouldn't trade going anywhere else in the world, because I know I was called to come here. I love you all and I am so excited to talk to you in a week and a half!! MAGIGING SOBRANG MASAYA PO AKO!! 

Mahal ko kayo lahat!

Sister Barton 

More about Coron

Family!

Can I just say I AM SO HAPPY PRESIDENT OSTLER LOVES ME AND LET ME TALK TO YOU FOR A LITTLE BIT TODAY!!!! Ah that made my whole life and in just a couple weeks I get to see your beautiful faces!! I'm so excited! So you guys seemed to have loads of questions about Coron. So i'm just gonna give you a brief summary.

Coron Palawan is beautiful. My area is awesome because it has the mountains as well as the ocean. Im pretty sure I have the most beautiful area in the whole mission. It is one of a kind. So here in Coron it is the Summer season so it is blazing hotttttt... like so so so hot. I can' t even express how hott it is here. haha so anyway we do studies in the middle of the day and proselyte in the morning and night because it is too hot to go out in the middle of the day... we litterally like die if we go out during the hottest time haha but anyways so my area has mountains... like legit so we have to hike straight up mountains to get to houses as well as we have to walk on dirt roads and walk like 2 or 3 kilometers to get to other houses... we walk a ton. It's awesome haha there are tricycles, but taking them to every appointment gets really expensive so we don't take them much. In our area we also have what is called Bakawan and it is tulay which are like boards that are man made so that you can walk on them to get to the houses in the middle of the ocean haha It's so thrilling and an adventure. The funniest part is apparently Elders have fallen (which is disgusting cuz they all throw their garbage in there and use it as a bathroom and things.. so yuck) but so far none of the Sisters have fallen in.. so needless to say, we are better than the Elders. Hahaha Nah im just kidding, but it is fun to walk on it. I've almost fallen numerous times, but havent yet. It's so adventurous. I love it.

The people are super nice and I blow them away when I speak Tagalog cuz they never woulda thought a white foreigner girl could speak their language. So I love talking to them... Even if im not awesome at Tagalog I can still talk and blow their minds so it's cool. Haha We have a huge area and there are so many people so we are always teaching, always busy, and it's really awesome! I love being here cuz we don't have to worry about meetings or going to the mission home or office or anything all we have to worry about is working. 

My companion is awesome! She works so hard and is so diligent even tho she is going home in July. She is so Christ like its unbelievable. I can't even imagine being the way she is. Hahah She's so wonderful. I got super lucky, I'm really praying that in three weeks one of us doesn't get transferred cuz I really like our companionship and we teach really well together and everything is just going great. But anyway, she's the best so pray we will both stay here.

Anyway, there is so much to say about Coron and my area and I don't really know what else haha but I LOVE IT HERE!! It's probably the hardest area I have ever and will ever have, but it's so good. I love it. I remember reading the other day a scripture (I can't remember what one it is) but it says something like "we find our life by loosing it for the Savior's sake" I love love love that and I testify. At the beginning of my mission it was hard to feel like I was helping and I kinda just felt like I was wasting my time a little, but now being out for almost 7 months I can really testify that every little thing you do on a mission and in your life by giving service is not wasted. It's awesome to feel like I really am loosing myself in this work. I love each of the people we talk to each day and I feel like I truly am helping them even if they reject us or mock us. I love it. You may think i'm just trying to be positive, and I am, but I also know that by going through this hard, painful, wonderful, joyous mission I am growing more than I ever have in my life. I love my mission words can express. I love being here and I truly feel like I am finding my "new life" because I am working and serving the savior. I love missionary work and I love being apart of the 75,000 other missionaries serving in the world right now. 

I love you all with my whole heart and I feel blessed to have each one of you supporting me and being in my life. Thanks for all you do! CTR and I can't wait to talk to you in a short couple of weeks! 

Mahal ko kayo!

Sister Barton

sorry the internet really hasn't been working the past couple of weeks soooo no pics... but that's okay cuz i'll see ya soon and you can take pics then haha love you!!

Back At It

Family!!

Sorry to break it to you, but it's gonna be a while until I get to skype you cuz we can't skype until we go to Manila which will be I think the end of May... but it's okay cuz it'll make it that much more exciting when we do get to skype! :) But HAPPY EARLY MOTHERS DAY MOM!! I love you!! This week has been awesome! My companion Sister Lubrico is awesome too! We hit all of our goals and have been working so hard to get Coron up and going again. Yes it has been so good! I'm so happy talaga. I can't express how amazing it is to serve in Coron. It will probably be my hardest area ever, but I love it and I wouldn't want to serve anywhere else. I love it here. 

This last week I had the coolest experience. I'm finally starting to catch onto Tagalog a little more everyday. So this week we really tried to find new investigators who are true seekers so we walked a lot and talked to a lot of people to try and teach them and see if they were interested. We came across one particular family this week who seemed interested and wanted to hear what our message was all about. This women who was the main one interested is part of the Iglesia ni Cristo church. Many of you probably haven't heard of it, but it's kinda a run off religion of our church. It has many similarities, but many differences as well. One big difference it has is that they believe Jesus Christ is our Savior but he is just a person. I didn't know that they believed that until we taught this lady. So we were teaching more about who missionaries are and what we do everyday and what we teach. I asked her who Jesus Christ is to her and then she told me, "he is just a man" (in Tagalog of Course) and honestly it kind of stunned me. I just was staring at her like... are you serious? I obviously didn't want to offend her, but I needed to defend my Savior Jesus Christ. It was amazing. Boldly, but lovingly I told her who Jesus Christ was. I was able to testify of my Redeemer and Savior Jesus Christ. I was able to explain to her that he is the Son of God. He is apart of the God Head and is perfect. It was one of the most powerful experiences on my mission. Even tho I didn't know how to speak really in depth about how I knew Jesus Christ was my Savior and who he is in Tagalog, in my simple clear words she knew that I KNEW who Jesus Christ was. The Spirit was so strong and I really felt the conviction of the Holy Ghost testify that what I was saying was true. It was amazing. 

I feel so so so extremely blessed to have the true Gospel of Jesus Christ here on Earth once more. It blesses my life immensely and I feel so grateful to be a Missionary and am able to serve the Lord with all of my heart. I was always scared to see what I would say if someone ever tried to Bible bash me or try to convince me of something I knew was wrong. It's awesome how the Spirit can work through you and truly just testify of what I know to be true. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. I know that through accepting and living the Gospel is the only way to return back to our Heavenly Father. I know that Jesus Christ is perfect and he was our only hope in returning back to our Father in Heaven. I believe in Christ. 

I love being on a mission. Everyday we get to study more and more about this perfect gospel and about our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ. I love being here in the Philippines helping my brothers and sisters use their agency to choose to return back to our Heavenly Fathers presence. Oh how much I love this gospel and how much I love God's plan for us. I came on a mission to help people change their lives. Of course it is hard, but when you are trying your best and you feel the blessings coming from working hard and doing what the Lord wants you to do, that is when you know everything you are going through is worth it. 

I love you all. I thank you for supporting and loving me. Wow it's crazy how many things are changing back at home. It's good though. I hope everyone is doing well and reading the Book of Mormon everyday, even for just 5 min. I promise that Book, if it hasn't already will change your life. I love you all. Choose The Right. 

Mahal ko kayo,

Sister Barton 

What the...

Family & Friends!

Okay you guys aren't going to believe the things that have been happening.. my mission has been so nuts. I can't even begin to tell you. First off, I have a new companion. I met her today. Sister Vaka has been really sick like literally throwing up everyday and was struggling hard. So we just thought she would pull through until we went to Manila but no... BOOM another emergency transfer. So she left me on Friday morning and then I literally didn't have a companion until this morning. haha I was in a trisome with Sister Fermin and Sister Lamberte, but I did a lot of stuff alone so it just felt like I didn't really have a companion.. It was so messed up. My new companions name is Sister Lubrico. She is really nice and I'm excited to be her companion. It is going to be quite the challenge tho.. Now there are 3 Filipino's living with me so they are going to speak Tagalog all the time (and not gonna lie, I can only handle so much until I feel like my brain is going to explode listening to Tagalog) but it's fine I'll live. Anyway so now I have a new companion.. and we didn't work a ton these last three weeks so I don't know the area real well and I have to lead it. So this week should be some fun.. aka im gonna die. haha just kidding, cuz with the Lord I can do all things :)

It's funny cuz when I realized Sister Vaka was going to transfer I was so sad. I was freaking out too because of all the stressors that started to happen and going on in my mind and things, and thats one of the best parts about a mission. When you are so stressed out and overwhelmed and feel like you can't go anymore and you just want to cry, that is the best part of a mission. Instead of turning to the worldly things everyone else goes too, or your mom for help, or really anything else, you have to rely on Heavenly Father. You turn to prayer. It's so amazing. Prayer is what has gotten me through my mission. Turning to Heavenly Father and letting him help you through all the MANY things required on a mission. I testify that the Lord will give you so many miracles if you just ask Him and rely on him for help. 

On Friday I was so overwhelmed and stressed and I just went in the Bathroom (so no one could see) and broke down crying. We had weekly planning so I was in my room alone, trying to plan for people I didn't know and then I just broke and I felt so sad. I honestly really wanted to just give up. I was so sad. So I knelt down and said a prayer just asking for peace and comfort so that I could keep going and move on. Then Sister Lamberte comes in my room and says, "Hey Sister Barton, President Ostler is on the phone and wants to talk to you." At that moment I felt so so so blessed. I haven't felt so happy in my whole life. So I take the phone and I got to talk to President Ostler and tell him everything I was feeling and he is sooooooo awesome. He helps me so much. I honestly feel so so so grateful for him. So I was able to talk to him and felt so much peace and just the Spirit confirm to me why I am here and why I am on a mission and to just keep on going. Then that night our new Sister Training leaders called us and guess who they were... BOOM Sister Tiongco and Sister Lutui. MY NANAY!! Sister Tiongco was my trainer and now she is my sister training leader so I will see her this transfer!! Ahhhh I almost burst into tears as I was talking to her. I was so so happy :) She also told me that Sister Anita (the funny old lady) and Sister Hyacinth were baptized in my old area so yesssss!! Honestly Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want whats best for us and I know if we ask for help, he will give it to us. "ask and ye shall recieve" I TESTIFY haha ITS SO TRUE!! 

I'm so grateful for miracles and tender mercies of the Lord. I feel so blessed to have the gospel in my life and the opportunity to share it with all people! ahhhh I love love love this work. It's hard, but it is worth it. I honestly think that is why a mission is so good. We come here to declare repentance and help people change their will to be in line with God's will, but in the process of missionary work I feel like us missionaries are the ones benefiting most. I have changed already so much and it has only been 6 months.. like wow I'm so excited to see the person I can become through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father is really shaping me to be the person he wants me to be and I LOVE IT. 

Congrats to all the young men in my ward back home who got their mission calls! That's so exciting! You will love it! As well as Jessica Robertson! YAY the people of Nebraska will love you! I'm so excited for you & make sure to put my on your email list :) Also special shout out to Jensen and Quincie on YOUR ENGAGEMENT!! Wow, Jens I never thought it would happen for you, but you proved me wrong. hahah I'm just kidding, but you guys will do awesome. Send me lots of pics and things. I love you both and I am excited for you. My advice is make sure Heavenly Father is apart of your relationship (or your third companion) haha idk if that makes sense, but it makes sense in my mind... anyway I love you all and I'm grateful for your support and love. Have the best week.

Love,

Sister Barton 

SIX months this week... WHAT?!

Fam!

Can you believe I turn six months this week? Times a flyin... well not really, but kinda haha Time is so weird here cuz literally the days feel like years... they are soooooo long, but then the weeks go by pretty fast and the transfers fly by.. So I don't really understand what is happening. hahah but cool I'm half a year down and one more year to go! :)

So I have had some great experiences here on my mission thus far, but I just want you guys to get just a little taste of what I am talking about haha so... here is what I am going to tell you so you can understand the Philippines a little bit better:

1- Everyone is naked. Like literally everyone. hahaha none of the little kids wear clothes haha like it is very rare to see a kid wearing pants haha and then the men don't like to wear shirts and they just have these huge beer bellys and its absolutely hilarious, but so funny! I love it here.

2- They all hiss at you to get your attention and since im white, they hiss at me ALLLLLL the time. It's so funny, they also point with there lips so thats weird, at first when they did that i thought they wanted to kiss me or something, but no thats just how they point haha 

3- I found out that they go to the bathroom and don't just use water, they use their left hand... and we have ran out of toliet paper numerous times, but lets just say I have really embraced the culture ;) hahahaha sorry TMI 

AND YAY CORON IS GROWING!!! The branch is growing, not so much in numbers, but spiritually. The whole feeling in the branch is so amazing. There has always been a special spirit here in Coron, but I feel it magnifying now more than ever. We are getting so close with the youth and it has been awesome. We have been helping them get ready for their performance in Puerto Princessa this week as well as we STARTED A CHOIR!! Wow, there is some hidden talent in this amazing branch. Each youth puts there own unique personality into the branch to make it what it is. It just continues to grow and develop and I am so excited to see the continuing unity to come with the Coron Branch. 

We have been able to do quite a bit of service these last couple of weeks and I really feel so happy when I get the opportunity to do service. Of course, service is the whole point of what we are doing on a Mission, but the extra service you get to do while serving is priceless. Especially serving the wonderful investigators, members, or just anyone here in Coron. We painted the inside of one of our members houses, we helped an investigator build her house and weed her garden, and we do English class every wednesday and it is awesome! I love English class haha Sister Vaka and I do it, cuz only foreigners and wow I love love love teaching english to all these cute Filipino kids. haha The people here are amazing and I feel so blessed to be here at such a time when the world is growing tremendously in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, not to mention the Philippines itself and how much it has grown in just these last couple of years. Wow what a special time this is in my life. 

Sometimes, well a lot of the time, I take being here on a mission for granted. Sometimes I think to myself, "what am I doing? I don't need to do this. This is so hard. I want to go home." but one thing that my old Zone Leader, Elder Honda said that has always kind of stuck with me is "no sacrifice without a cost is worth it." I know that to be true from the bottom of my soul. Jesus Christ suffered and sacrificed a tremendous cost for all of us. He paid the price and the blessings everyone receives from his sacrifice are priceless. I don't think I will ever be able to comprehend what my savior Jesus Christ has done personally for me. What can I give back? Honestly, nothing to the amount that he has given me, but the little I can, I will. I need to rejoice in the time I have giving all my might, mind, heart, and soul to the Savior Jesus Christ doing his work. Of course, it will not be easy. This mission is far from easy, but in the end 5, 10, 20 years from now I know I will look back and say, "Wow. My mission was so worth it." 

I feel like I have already grown so much here on my mission and I cannot wait to keep growing and developing into the person Heavenly Father wants me to be. I feel so blessed to have all of you in my life. You are all amazing and I want you to know how much I love you. Continue to press onward and love everyone you meet. You are all so amazing and I'm excited to see the things to come this week! :)

Mahal Ko Kayo,

Sister Barton 

Conference

Family!

This wonderful weekend I had the fortunate opportunity to watch conference. I had to listen to some in Tagalog cuz they didn't have english for a while, but then we finally got english so i actually got to understand more! haha I loved all of the talks for many different reasons. One talk I really loved was Elder Steven E Snow. His talk was all about humility and the importance of continually living in humility. Ahhhh one of my favorite Chirstlike attributes is humility. I absolutely love it. "We all need to strive for humility to be better followers of the Savior." I love love loved that. 

Also another talk I really really loved was Elder Jeffrey R. Hollands talk. Of course because he is absolutely AMAZING. I just think he did so well in giving everyone hope. Hope to be better, hope to move on, and hope to change. I loved how he just addressed that everyone has challenges and hardships in their life, but the savior is always there. As long as we keep going and love God we will be blessed. I loved when he was talking about the savior and says, "He will hold your hand saying, fear not, I will help thee." ahhhh Elder Holland is so amazing. I personally have seen a lot of challenges and hardships here on my mission, but it's an amazing thing to really strive to know the Savior and to know Heavenly Father. They are always here to help lift and guide us. I love Jesus Christ with my whole heart and it's so cool because especially here on a mission I get to testify of Him and I get to learn more and more about Him everyday. How great my calling is. He will always be there for each and every one of us. 

Lastly I just want to quickly talk about the short powerful talk President Thomas S Monson gave. I'm just going to say our choices mean everything. So choose the right. The quotes I loved from him were:

"The choices we make determine our destiny."

"The path we follow in this life determines the path we follow in the next life."

"Choose wisely."

And the last and personally my favorite one is... "Choose the harder right rather than the easier wrong."

Everything we do in this life and what determines for the next life is based on our choices. So may we choose Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. I love you all. The work is going good. I love my companion. I love Coron, Palawan, and I love you all. 

Mahal Ko Kayo,

Sister Barton

Ps Two I didn't mention that I need to is Elder D. Todd Christophersons talk on Fathers ahhhh that was amazing as well as Elder Ronald A Rasband. Don't take Sustaining and supporting casually. It is a privilege to listen to the counsel of our leaders and to have them lead and guide us to truth and light. 

Emergency Transfer

Hello Family!

This week has been... crazy. Great, but crazy. So to start off, we had a great family home evening this week with the Pagayunan family and ahhh it was so good, then I have some big news cuz I got a new companion! Weird, but cool. Then I just wanna talk about how great our Branch is. :)

So first off, FHE!! Wow I sent you the pictures so hopefully they are the right ones considering we can't actually see what we send... it's hard to explain but i'm just hoping for the best. haha But Yay we had Family Home Evening and it was awesome! The Pagayunan Family is the best! They are so prepared and litterally have SO many people in their family! I'm so excited to see what happens to them in the future! We were able to play games with them and then we watch the Restoration video with them and wow that was so powerful. It is such a cool sight to be sitting on the ground in this bamboo hut and then you just get to see this huge beautiful family watch Joseph Smith's experience. Literally the experience that changed the whole world. Wow, I can't even express to you how awesome it was to witness that. The Holy Ghost confirms to me every time we share about Joseph Smith and his experience that it is true. I know for a fact that Joseph Smith was a true prophet called of God. I can't express how truly blessed we are to have the truth in our lives. So anyway the Pagayunan family is so great!

Secondly and kinda really big news... I have a new companion!! One of the Sisters in our kabahay was kind of struggling and has been for quite a while so we thought she would just get transfered in two weeks at transfer day, but instead for some odd reason it happened this week. BAM so she left and I acutally got moved to Coron B and am Companions with Sister Vaka!! Ahhhhhh It is so awesome! Sister Fermin now has a new companion named Sister Lamberte and she is really cute! But I don't know if you remember Sister Vaka, she is the one from Canada who I had my first exchange with. She is so great and honestly I feel so blessed I am able to be her companion! The only thing that's kinda sucks is she leaves to go home from her mission in June soooooo that's sad, but that's far from now so it's fine! haha the other hard thing is I moved from Coron A to Coron B.. So now I have to learn a whole new area and new people... and I won't be able to teach the Pagayunan family anymore... so that's really sad. But hey at least if they come to church I will see them so that's cool! :) So that's what happened and now I have my first foreigner companion who really pushes me to talk, WHICH IS SO GOOD!! I'm gonna get really good at Tagalog and everything and it's gonna be awesome!! I love being her companion and it's only been three days so YAY!!

Lastly, our branch. Our branch is absolutley wonderful. Wow if you guys could come and feel the spirit that is here in Coron you would die. We have so many faithful youth in our ward. Some of them have no family who are LDS but yet they still come to church and work with the missionaries and are so dedicated to this work. Also most everyone in our branch is a convert of 3 years or under. Wow our branch is simply amazing. There are no words to describe how amazing the people are here. I love love love them. Everyone is so diligent and faithful even tho they have so many hardships and challenges. I hope we can all choose to be like them. 

I am so excited for conference! I know you all already saw it, but we see it a week late so I will be seeing it on Saturday and Sunday. I am so excited. I'm gonna be in the missionary count! :) Yay Conference is so cool. I hope you all listened and heard the great words of the Prophet. One of my favorite parts about conference is when the Apostles and Prophet testify of being a witness of Jesus Christ. Ahhh I love that. All I can say to you all is be happy, show acts of service to eachother, and always strive for the companionship of the Holy Ghost in your lives. Be worthy to always have Him with you. The Holy Ghost is so important to lead and guide our lives in the right direction. I truly testify of that. I love you all, and just think in one month I get to skype you again!! :) Time is flying!

Mahal ko kayo!

Sister Barton